Olsen still rehabbing his ankles. Emilio has arrived after visa delays but did not play. Fred is expected in the coming days.

DCU-Toronto on Tuesday.

On a side note, former DCU midfielder Bryan Arguez, who did not appear in any MLS league matches last year, made his Bundesliga debut today by playing the final 27 minutes of Hertha Berlin's 3-0 home loss to Eintracht Frankfurt.

The U-23's are blessed with just about every young american player we wish we had on our team. Including two very talented strikers who scored on us, and should hopefully score on any other team they play against.

Disappointed? Sure. Far from scared, though. Columbus would have been blown away.

Did anyone see Arguez play? How did he look out there? I don't know what to make of a kid who didn't make an MLS appearance for a whole season, but then goes to Germany and cracks a 1st team appearance in less then 2wks. At least we were smart enough to transfer him and get some $ out of him.

Did anyone see Arguez play? How did he look out there? I don't know what to make of a kid who didn't make an MLS appearance for a whole season, but then goes to Germany and cracks a 1st team appearance in less then 2wks. At least we were smart enough to transfer him and get some $ out of him.
--------
And he says to MLS and United screw you. Look what I am capable of?

So, Carvallo gets his first taste of Jozy Altidore. Probably a pretty good education. I don't imagine there are many players in Peru with his ability. Charlie Davies is no slouch either. I guess the new look defense has some work to do. Wish we could see the goals.

Looks like one goal in each half for the U23s, so that means one each against Carvallo and Thorpe.

I think more interesting than the final score is United's lineup. We shouldn't read too much into any of this, but Martinez and Peralta started at center back, and McTavish started at left wing. Obviously that's Fred's spot when he's available, but maybe United wants to give McTavish some more time there.

Also interesting is that this is the second scrimmage in a row where Jerson Monteiro received more minutes than Kpene.

Oh, Good Lord. Maybe we should delete my prior post before someone actually injures themself. Had I thought that anyone for even a fleeting second would believe the Beckham plays for DCU statement in a blatantly factually-challenged UK tabloid....I never would have posted it. My naivety led me to believe that a few others might chuckle at its ludicrousness like me, but man, little did I know the danger....

i'm on vacation for the week down here in sunny Florida (god it's nice to get away from cold DC!), and was able to make it to the game. here are just a few of my observations/comments.

1. communication is going to be a problem for a while since the backline and goalie can't understand each other. in fact, all i heard was spanish just about the whole first half. at one point, Carvallo yelled at Burch to mark better, and he yelled back at him to tell Perralta that he had to mark better too. this breakdown in communication led to the first goal when the backline was scrambling to mark the right guys.
2. my biggest surprise was watching sasha kljestan control the middle the entire match. he has great ball-handling skills and distribution, and i believe we won't be seeing him in the MLS for too much longer, considering a number of other players on the U23 squad are already seeing minutes in Europe.
3. Frank O'Neill - the new irish import - is small. like, mad tiny. he looks like a 10 year old out on the field running with the big boys. but he's really quick and definitely has some ups for the headers.
4. you could see that Gallardo has great creativity with the ball in terms of passing and leading players down the pitch, but his execution and timing with other players is still a bit off. again, this will come with time.
5. i spoke with ben after the match. he's flying back to DC tomorrow to continue rehabbing his left ankle. still giving him problems.
6. after watching this match, i felt bad that DCU lost, but actually pretty excited to see such a strong U23 team that Nowak is most likely going to take to the Olympics. they're going to compete for sure.
7. DC wasn't actually competing in the 2nd half. since the entire squad was swapped out, only 3 players that started the 2nd half are actually listed on United's roster (Jeff Carroll, Justin Moose, and Jerson Monteiro). Kpene came in later as well. Soehn is trying out the new guys to see how they perform against a squad that's been together for the past month. really no worries here at all.

FINALLY - the biggest news is that Ben Olsen is soon going to be a dad! Exact date still TBD. Congrats again, Benny!

pure speculation here - but when i got there a few minutes into the first half, Kpene was running laps and laps around the field. THEN he didn't come in until subbed in during the second half. my thought - punishment for some small infraction. again, just my theory.

NY -- Don't get used to it. The clock is ticking on Altidore's Red Bulls years. A few more games with the USMNT and he won't have any visa issues to worry about in England. He might go someplace with less rigid requirements, even sooner..

Nice to see youngsters Freddy, Jozy, Edu, and Clark looking like they'll become regulars to replace some of the aging deadwood. I know Beasley's hurt, what's up with Cherundolo? Hopefully, this will be the last cap for stiffs like Lewis, Moor, Noonan and Pearce.

What's with all the hating for Noonan? He played his best game with the Nats last time out. Just signed in Europe. He's only getting better....Cherie's had better efforts, but he'll bounce back. He's as good as we've got on the back line.